Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz were among the 104 major league players listed as
having tested positive for performance-enhancing substances in 2003, lawyers
with knowledge of the results told The New York Times.

The two were key members of the Boston Red Sox World Series championship teams
in 2004 and 2007.

The lawyers did not name the substances for which Ramirez and Ortiz tested
positive, The Times reported.

One team official told ESPN.com's Amy K. Nelson before the Red Sox's 8-5 win
over the A's at Fenway Park that he had "no idea whatsoever" that both Ortiz and
Ramirez were on the list, adding that the team has been relatively
controversy-free this year.

"At least [manager Terry Francona's] at the helm in the clubhouse and he's a
magician at keeping the guys focused," the team official said.

Ortiz, after his 2-for-3 performance that included a three-run homer in the
seventh inning that gave the Red Sox the lead for good, issued a statement.

"Today I was informed by a reporter that I was on the 2003 list of MLB players
to test positive for performance-enhancing substances. This happened right
before our game, and the news blindsided me.

"I want to talk about this situation and I will as soon as I have more answers.
In the meantime I want to let you know how I am approaching this situation. One,
I have already contacted the Players Association to confirm if this report is
true. I have just been told that the report is true. Based on the way I have
lived my life, I am surprised to learn I tested positive.

"Two, I will find out what I tested positive for. And, three, based on whatever
I learn, I will share this information with my club and the public. You know me
-- I will not hide and I will not make excuses."

Los Angeles Angels center fielder Torii Hunter, a longtime friend of Ortiz's,
said he was shocked by the report.

"This hurts, this really hurts," Hunter told ESPN.com. "I don't know what to
think about this. I guess you just never know what people do in the dark.

"I still love him but at the same time it's tough to hear that. I know it's
going to be tough on him and tough on his family once this gets out. It's Big
Papi, man, it's the Big Dog of Boston and he helped win two World Series with
those guys, with the clutch hits. And now all those things are going to be
tainted."

"I will find out what I tested positive for ... based on whatever I learn, I
will share this information with my club and the public. You know me -- I will
not hide and I will not make excuses." -- David Ortiz

Ramirez, now with the Los Angeles Dodgers, did not address The Times report as
he prepared for the Dodgers' Thursday night game against the Cardinals in St.
Louis.

"You guys want to talk about the game, what is happening now, we can sit down
and talk for two hours," Ramirez said. "If you want more information, call the
union."

Ramirez said he found out about the report on television while flipping channels
in his hotel room. He told ESPN that he shrugged, and kept flipping channels.

"Me and David, we're like two mountains," Ramirez said. "We're going to keep
doing good no matter what ... Only God is going to be able to move those two
mountains."

Ramirez recently came off a 50-game suspension for violating baseball's drug
policy. The specific violation was never announced, but sources have told ESPN
that testing during spring training this year revealed elevated levels of
testosterone that had come from an artificial source.

Sources told ESPN that Ramirez was suspended because Major League Baseball had
documentation to prove he had used hCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin, a
female fertility drug that is used to restart a body's natural testosterone
production as it comes off a steroid cycle.

"You guys want to talk about the game, what is happening now, we can sit
down and talk for two hours. If you want more information, call the union." --
Manny Ramirez

In June, The Times reported Sammy Sosa was on the 2003 list. In February, SI.com
reported that Alex Rodriguez was on the list, and subsequently, Rodriguez
acknowledged having used banned substances from 2001 to 2003, when he was with
the Texas Rangers.

Players were tested in 2003 as part of Major League Baseball's survey to
determine if it was necessary to impose mandatory random drug testing in 2004.
There were no penalties for a positive test in 2003.

As part of the drug agreement between the union and MLB, the results of the
testing of 1,198 players also were meant to be anonymous. Penalties began in
2004 and suspensions for a first positive test started in 2005.

Government agents initially obtained search warrants in 2004 for the
drug-testing records of 10 players as part of their BALCO investigation that led
to Barry Bonds' perjury indictment, but they found the more expansive list on a
spreadsheet, obtained additional warrants and seized the larger group of
records.

The case over the legality of the search is mired in the court system and
eventually could reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Times reported the revelations about Ramirez and Ortiz came from multiple
lawyers and other sources associated with the case pending.

"Today The New York Times, once again, reports what it asserts to be information
contained in documents under court seal. And precisely for that reason, the
[MLB] Players Association will not, indeed cannot, comment on whether the
information is accurate," union chief Donald Fehr said.

Hunter told ESPN.com: "Whoever got that list is just playing with Major League
Baseball right now. Either put [the list] away, or just put it out. It was
anonymous and now the names are leaking and it's a joke."

In February, shortly after Rodriguez confessed to using banned substances, Ortiz
said publicly that players who tested positive for a substance that was banned
at the time should be suspended for an entire year.

Once one of the most feared, clutch hitters in the league, Ortiz has struggled
of late. After totaling 177 homers from 2004 to 2007, he did not hit his first
homer this season until May 20. He played in only 109 games in 2008 because of
wrist injuries.

"He's still my boy, no matter what," Hunter said. "David is a great person and I
love him to death. Nothing going to change between us. I'm just shocked just
like everybody else, that's all."

Source: ESPN.com's Amy K. Nelson and The Associated Press was used in this
report.